New Zealand v England - Part Two

1958-59 in
New Zealand
Shellshocked from an Ashes drubbing, the trip to New Zealand offered a welcome respite, even though only 12 members of the Australian squad made the trip - Arthur Milton, Godfrey Evans, Jim Laker, Trevor Bailey, Peter Loader and Brian Statham returned home. The Christchurch Test was won by an innings and 99 runs, Tony Lock took 11 wickets in friendly conditions and Ted Dexter hit his maiden Test century. The second Test, at Auckland, was ruined by rain.New Zealand 0 England 1 Drawn 1

1962-62 in
New Zealand
For the first time England played three Tests after their Ashes tour but the move was unsuccessful in so far as New Zealand were hopelessly outplayed throughout. "Obviously they lack enough good-class cricket against better opposition," Wisden noted, "and it is difficult to see how they can improve unless they get it." The first two Tests followed the same pattern - England made big scores, New Zealand were twice bowled out cheaply - but at Christchurch they took a small first-innings lead in a low-scoring game only to be bowled out for 159, of which John Reid made 100; England won by seven wickets.
New Zealand 0 England 3

1965 in England
New Zealand returned after a seven-year gap for the first split tour - South Africa came later in the summer - since the ill-fated triangular series in 1912. They suffered one of the worst summer's in living memories - hot drinks were served during play in the first Test - and while they possessed a decent seam attack, their lack of batsmen and spinners told. In the first two Tests New Zealand batted well in their second innings but had too much ground to make up to have any real chance of avoiding defeat. In the third John Edrich made 310* out of 546 for 4 and then they were twice bowled out for under 200.
England 3 New Zealand 0

1965-66 in
New Zealand
For the first time England flew to their Australasian tour - in economy - and after three hopelessly one-sided series, New Zealand came away with a draw. That they did was largely thanks to poor weather and four-day Tests, but it was still progress. In the first Test New Zealand clung on at 48 for 8 after being set a target of 197; the second was a weather-hit draw but New Zealand failed to pass 200 in either innings; in the third they took a 74-run first-innings lead but were bowled out for 129 second time round and England, chasing 204, ran out of time on 159 for 4.
New Zealand 0 England 0 Drawn 3

1969 in England
A safety-first policy did not do an experienced side justice and against a strong bowling attack, their batsmen found runs hard to score at anything other than a slow pace. At Lord's Derek Underwood's 11 for 70 paved the way for England's 230-run victory while at The Oval he went one better with 12 for 101 in an eight-wicket win. In between the Nottingham Test was drawn after two days were washed out. Dick Motz, New Zealand's opening bowler, became the first Kiwi to take 100 Test wickets before being forced to retire. Bowling in pain throughout the tour, it was discovered he had been playing with a displaced vertebrae for at least 18 months.
England 2 New Zealand 0 Drawn 1

1970-71 in
New Zealand
A tour that England did not want - it came after a seven-Test gruelling series in Australia - but again it was Underwood who proved the match winner in the first Test with 6 for 12 in New Zealand's first innings and match figures of 12 for 97 in England's eight-wicket win. In the second match time ran out - it was still a four-day Test - but Alan Knott came back into the side (he had been rested to allow Bob taylor to make his debut) with 101 while mark Burgess scored 104 for New Zealand.
New Zealand 0 England 1 Drawn 1

1973 in England
Another one-sided scoreline hid the reality of two close-fought Tests. At Trent bridge New Zealand, inspired by Bev Congdon's 176, reached 402 for 5 chasing 496 before falling 38 runs short of what would have been an astounding win. At Lord's, Congdon (175) Burgess (104) and Vic Pollard (104) guided New Zealand to 551 for 9, and they might have won had Ken Wadsworth not dropped a simple chance behind the stumps when England were only 70 ahead with two second-innings wickets remaining on the final afternoon. The third Test was a disappointing end to a pulsating series as England rattled off an innings win. Glenn Turner became the first batsman since 1938 to score 1000 runs by the end of May.
England 2 New Zealand 0 Drawn 1

1974-75 in
New Zealand
After a battering at the hands of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thompson, New Zealand was a welcome haven and England were in no mood to go easy. Mike Denness followed his 188 at Melbourne with 181 in the first Test - keith Fletcher chipped in with 216 - as new Zealand went down to an innings loss. The match was overshadowed by a life-threatening injury to Ewan Chatfield, the New Zealand No. 11 who was struck on the head by Peter Lever and needed to be given the kiss of life by Bernard Thomas, England's physio. The second Test was utterly forgettable, three of the six days being washed out, leading to the abandonment of the rest day.
New Zealand 0 England 1 Drawn 1

1977-78 in
New Zealand
For the first time England toured New Zealand on a stand-alone visit as opposed to an appendage to an Ashes series. England were captained by Geoff Boycott following an injury to Mike Brearley on the Pakistan leg of the trip, but he led England to their first defeat by New Zealand when, set 137 to win, they were blown aside for 64 - Richard Hadlee with 10 for 100 was the star of the show. England bounced back with a 174-run win at Christchurch, Ian Botham becoming only the second Englishman to take a five-for and score a hundred in a Test, but the six-day decider was a painful draw. Geoff Howarth's two hundreds - the first taking eight hours 35 minutes - were outbored by Clive Radley's ten-hour 158.
New Zealand 1 England 1 Drawn 1

1978 in
England
New Zealand's hopes of capitalising on their win at Wellington were dashed by injuries to their main strike bowlers, although Richard Hadlee still shone through with 41 wickets at 17.41 on the tour. The batsmen struggled, none more than Burgess, the captain, and the side were further weakened by the decision of Glenn Turner to stay with his county rather than tour. England won a low-scoring first Test by seven wickets, bowled New Zealand out for under 200 twice to win the second by an innings, and then Botham grabbed 11 for 140 as new Zealand were bowled out for 67 in the their second innings at Lord's to suffer a second seven-wicket loss.
England 3 New Zealand 0